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Andor Luhović: have no fear, be completely shameless

Andor Luhović is a sucessful entrepreneur, founder of Buscador app, and one of the mentors on third Startup Weekend in Novi Sad. We have talked with him about success and startups. Here's what he has to say!

SW: What is your occupation are you working on at the moment?

AL: Last September I stepped into the startup world and my occupation at the moment is Buscador - safe hiking app.

SW: Do you have any additional projects that you are developing in parallel?

AL: Everything goes very quickly, so some parallel projects or some other jobs can hardly be done. It is always quite dynamic and challenging in the Startup world, and such work requires 120% of your dedication. I have spent last few days in Sofia, in the Eleven Startup Accelerator. We are currently launching the first version of our product Our next step is to move on to fundraising and participating in some new programmes.

SW: How important is to have support in the startup world?

AL: Having support in the startup world is very important. We cannot work without support, without the network of people who are helping us. Even though, in the beginning, I didn’t believe I would get this far, but here I am. Everything is possible when you connect with a large number of people. You discover, learn, and that’s how you get to the investors and experts who help you develop your story. More or less, we function with the help of the Startup community that keeps getting stronger in this region.

SW: What would you recommend to someone who has an idea?

AL: Everything starts with a spark that appears in an individual. During the time that idea matures, and when it gets a ripe shape, it becomes a business idea. If you feel a turmoil that doesn’t let you sleep at night because you see that it has some potential, and when that turmoil boils inside of you long enough, then you say: ‘’Let’s do something.’’All that you should do now is to validate the idea. And you will know that you have done it when the potential users tell you: ‘’Hey, I would use/pay for this.’’, then you have something that you can work with.

SW: When we talk about persistence: young people nowadays are very impulsive. They would attempt to accomplish everything right now, and if they cannot achieve it momentarily, they would quit. How important is the persistence in business?

AL: Even an aeroplane doesn’t take off with the help of the air, but against the air current. The primary idea was to identify the problem that you need to solve. For Buscador, the problem is that people are unaware of all the natural beauties that surround them. If you are passionate about solving problems with ideas that have business potential, then you have a chance to be a successful entrepreneur. If you tend to find some shortcuts and easier routes, then that isn’t for you.

SW: How important is teamwork for you? In some previous interviews, you have mentioned that the team is very important in alpinism. Thus, how important is the team for a project, in the world of business, science or any other area?

AL: The team is crucial. A man can improve a startup with his skills and involvement in the whole story. Likewise, a person can totally slow things down, and ruin a startup. I am the third generation of the Startup Academy. Every generation has seven or eight teams. In my generation, no team survived, they all fell apart. The ideas were great, but the idea stayed with one man, who gathered new people, and not the team that entered the Academy. So, it is very important that the whole team gets involved completely.

SW: Many people choose team members based on friendship. Is that a bad approach?

AL: I chose persons who I believe could be a part of the team, based on what I knew about them at that moment. It is easy to quarrel; the point is to reconcile. If the team is good, you can do whatever you want, you can create, and you can conquer. The most important is the passion that has to last.That passion can be nurtured by a person who is willing to make a sacrifice and who has a strong will to succeed. It doesn’t matter whether if she is my friend or not.

SW: Where do you see yourself in a few years? Still all over the world, or at one place?

AL: I see myself in the world of entrepreneurship because I have always been changing something; that is my nature. Early next year we plan to travel to the USA, to conquer American national parks and to record tracks from these places for our application. The application is based on a lifestyle I have. The plan is to start from the Great Smokey Mountains, which is the most visited national park in the world with over 9.000.000 visitors per year. We will see what we will be doing next after that.

SW: To conclude, what recommendations would you give to the Startup Weekend participants?

AL: A very important thing that is meaningful for young people who want to step into the startup world is that they should be shameless. In the early phase, that is the key that defines success and failure. If you’re afraid of asking the answer is always ’’no’’. Young people need to understand that we were all beginners, and we all needed help at some point. In my case, being shameless helped me the most I wasn’t ashamed to come and say: ‘’I need this, I need that.’’ or ‘’I don’t know this. Do you know someone who knows how to do this?’’ ‘’Can you help?’’. My advice is: have no fear, be completely shameless, take a chance, because if you won’t, somebody else will.